The History of Tasmania Volume I Part 1

The History of Tasmania.

Volume I.

by John West.

DISCOVERY, &c.

SECTION I.

Nearly fifty years have elapsed, since Van Diemen's Land was numbered with the colonies of the British empire. A generation has risen up and is pa.s.sing away. Thousands, while they venerate the land of their European ancestors, with an amiable fondness love Tasmania as their native country. They will, hereafter, guide its affairs, extend its commerce, and defend its soil; and, not inferior in virtue and intelligence, they will fill an important position in the vast system of Australasia.

To gratify their curiosity, and offer to their view the instructive and inspiriting events of the past, is the purpose of this history.

The difficulty of the task can be appreciated only by experience. To collect from scattered records, facts worthy of remembrance; to separate reality from romance; to remove partial coloring from statements made long ago; and to exhibit useful truth without disguise and without offence, required much research and deliberation.

It is not the intention of this history to relate every event which, when pa.s.sing, may have been deemed momentous; much less to recal from obscurity the errors, absurdity, and wickedness which exercised no distinct influence on the common welfare. The author has endeavoured to realize the feelings and sympathies of the benevolent and just of another age, and to confine his pen to details which may maintain their interest, when the pa.s.sions with which they were a.s.sociated shall subside for ever.

In calling this work THE HISTORY OF TASMANIA, a designation is chosen generally preferred by the colonists, and which their successors will certainly adopt. "Van Diemen" is a name affixed to the north coast of New Holland; and this country is the first known discovery of Tasman.

The name of Tasman is recognised by the royal patent const.i.tuting the diocese; by several literary societies and periodical works: it forms the term by which we distinguish our Tasmanian from our European youth.

Tasmania is preferred, because "Van Diemen's Land" is a.s.sociated among all nations with the idea of bondage and guilt; and, finally, because while Tasmania is a melodious and simple sound, "Van Diemen" is harsh, complex, and infernal.

During the reign of Charles I. (Frederick Henry, grandfather of William III. being Stadtholder of Holland) the Dutch discovered this island. The enterprise of that people had raised them to the zenith of their power: unless by England, they were unrivalled in nautical science and commercial opulence. More for the purposes of trade than the acquisition of knowledge, they were anxious to discover unknown countries, and to conceal the information they possessed from the rest of the world.

At this time, Anthony Van Diemen was governor-general of Batavia: by him, Abel Jans Tasman was commissioned to explore the "Great South Land," the name by which New Holland was known until 1665, when, by the authority of the Netherland government, it received its present designation. A fragment of the journal of Tasman, containing an account of his discovery, was first published by Dirk Rembrant, and afterwards translated into most European tongues. In this abstract nautical details respecting Van Diemen's Land were omitted, but were described in the journal itself, and by thirty-eight charts, views, and figures. These were purchased by Sir Joseph Banks, on his return from his voyage to these seas. Tasman's journal was translated by a Netherland clergyman: he considered the age of the ma.n.u.script confirmed by the spelling: that it was genuine he had no doubt, although he questioned whether written by Tasman, or transcribed at his command. Sir Joseph Banks acquired at the same time a copy of instructions to Tasman, given by the Governor of Batavia in 1644, for a second expedition, and which recapitulated the various voyages of his predecessors. These, however, have no connection with Van Diemen's Land.

To adorn the new stadthouse of Amsterdam, erected in 1665, three hemispheres were wrought in stone, of twenty-two feet in diameter: the circles were inlaid with bra.s.s, and were executed by a celebrated artist. The southern hemisphere exhibited the discoveries of Tasman and his predecessors: they formed the pavement of the hall, until obliterated by the tread of several generations. They were quite forgotten when Sir Joseph Banks sought information from the inhabitants.

A copy of these works of art was preserved, and displayed the extent to which New Holland and Van Diemen's Land were known.

The journal of Tasman has been greatly admired: it is clear, laconic, and devout.[1] It opens with an invocation: "May G.o.d Almighty be pleased to give his blessing to this voyage. Amen." The doc.u.ment is, indeed, full of pious sentiments: when a long desired breeze liberated the vessel from port, or refreshment was obtained, or safe anchorage found, he dots down a thanksgiving. He reckoned his longitude from the Peak of Teneriffe: the hours he called gla.s.ses; his miles were German, fifteen to a degree.

On the 14th of August, 1642, Tasman embarked at Batavia, on board the _Heemskirk_, the fly-boat _Zeehaan_, Jerit Zanzoon, master, in company.

They set sail for the Mauritius, and arrived on the 5th of September.

That island, then commanded by Van Steelan, was but little cultivated, and gave slight promise of its present importance.[2] On the 4th October, they were ready to depart, but were delayed by contrary winds until the 8th, when on a change in their favor they stood eastward to sea. On the 27th, a council being called, it was resolved that a man should constantly look out at the topmast head; and to encourage vigilance it was determined, that the first discoverer of land should receive three reals and a pot of arrack. On the 4th November they saw patches of duckweed and a seal, and inferred their vicinity to land. The first pilot, Francis Jacobzs, on the 7th, supported by the advice of the steersman, thus delivered his opinion:--"We should keep to the 44 south lat.i.tude, until we have pa.s.sed 150 longitude; then make for lat.i.tude 40 south, and keeping in that parallel to run eastward to 220 longitude, and then steering northward search with the trade wind from east to west for the Solomon Islands. We imagine, if we meet with no main land till we come to 150 longitude, we must then meet with islands." On the 17th, they were in lat.i.tude 44 15' and longitude 147 3': they concluded that they had already pa.s.sed the south land then known. On the 22nd they found their compa.s.s was not still within eight points, which they attributed to the influence of loadstone, and which kept the needle in continual motion. On the 24th, at noon, they found their lat.i.tude 42 25' south, longitude 163 31': in the afternoon, at 4 o'clock, they observed land, Point Hibbs, bearing east by north. The land was high, and towards evening they saw lofty mountains to the east south-east, and to the north-east two smaller mountains: here their compa.s.s stood right. They resolved to run off five hours to sea, and then to run back towards the land. On the 25th, the morning was calm, and at 5 o'clock they were within three miles of the sh.o.r.e, and had soundings at sixty fathoms. They approached a level coast, and reckoned their lat.i.tude 42 30', and middle longitude 163 50'. On this day they named their discovery: "we called it Anthony Van Diemen's Land, in honor of our high magistrate and governor-general, and the islands near (Boreels) we named in honor of the council of India, as you may see by the little map we made." Next day they lost sight of land. They fixed the longitude 163 50', and gave orders to the master of the _Zeehaan_ to adopt that reckoning. On the 28th land reappeared, and in the evening they came near three small islands, one of which they thought like the head of a lion (Mewstone, of Furneaux). On the following morning they pa.s.sed two cliffs, one (the Sw.i.l.l.y, of Furneaux) like the Pedra Branca, near the coast of China; the other, the eastern cliff, resembling a high misshapen tower (the Eddystone, of Cook). Between the cliff and the main land they pa.s.sed, until they came almost to Storm Bay, where they found it impossible to anchor, and were driven by the wind to sea--so far, that land could scarcely be sighted in the morning. In the afternoon of the 1st December, they anch.o.r.ed in a good port (marked Frederick Hendrik Bay in the chart), with twenty-two fathoms water, and bottom of fine light grey sand.

On the following morning the boats were despatched to the sh.o.r.e: on their return, the steersman informed them that they had heard the sound of voices, and of a little gong; but saw no one. They remarked two trees, sixty feet from the ground to the branches, and two and a-half in circ.u.mference: the bark taken off with flint stones, and steps cut to climb for birds' nests, full five feet from each other, and indicative of a very tall people. They saw marks, such as are left by the claws of a tiger, and brought on board the excrements of some quadruped; gum lac, which dropped from trees, and greens "which might be used in place of wormwood." They saw people at the east corner of the bay:[3] they found no fish, except mussels: many trees were burned hollow near the ground; they were widely separated, and admitted an extensive view.

On the 3rd, they went to a little bay, south-west from their ships, in search of water: the surf prevented their landing, but the carpenter swam on sh.o.r.e; and near four remarkable trees, standing in the form of a crescent, he erected a post, on which a compa.s.s was carved, and left the Prince's flag flying upon it.[4] "When the said carpenter had done this in the sight of me, Abel Jans Tasman, of the master Jerit Zanzoon, and under merchant Abraham Coomans, we went in the shallop as near as possible, and the said carpenter swam back through the surf. We then returned on board, and left this memorial to the posterity of the inhabitants. They did not show themselves, and we suspected some to be not far from thence, and watching carefully our doings." The last object they noticed was a large round mountain (St. Patrick's Head), on the eastern coast, of which they lost sight on the 5th December.

From Van Diemen's Land they proceeded to New Zealand, where by an encounter with the natives several lives were lost: thence they pa.s.sed Tongataboo, Amsterdam, and Rotterdam, and arrived at Batavia on the 15th June, 1643. Tasman closes his journal with his usual devotion: "G.o.d be praised for this happy voyage. Amen."

That Maria Island was named after the daughter of Van Diemen, and that Tasman went over the ocean writing down her name in the imperishable records of his discoveries, is a pleasing tale; but the evidence on which it rests is far from conclusive. Thus at Amsterdam he called the anchorage Van Diemen's Road, and where the boats went for water Maria's Bay, "in honor of our governor-general and his lady." That a daughter of the same name existed is not improbable, but who can tell whether the Maria Island of Tasmania's coast was named in complaisance to the daughter, or to conciliate the mother! In hope to confirm the agreeable fiction the journal of Tasman has been examined, but in vain.

The spirit of discovery revived in Europe after a long slumber; and a succession of ill.u.s.trious navigators, in their pa.s.sage to regions deemed more important, touched at Van Diemen's Land, and thus rapidly developed its geography. After Tasman, the next visitor was Captain Marion, of the _Mascarin and Castries_, who in 1772 arrived from the Mauritius, in search of the "southern continent," then the grand object of nautical inquiry, and anch.o.r.ed in Frederick Hendrik Bay, the 4th March. The visit is chiefly memorable for a fatal collision with the natives, who, according to the French, exhibited uncommon ferocity. On his stepping on sh.o.r.e they offered Captain Marion a fire stick, which he supposed a ceremony of friendship; but when he lighted a heap of wood, as he imagined in compliance with their custom, they retired to a hill, and threw a shower of stones. The French fired their muskets, and the natives fled: their pursuers found in the wood a dying savage--the first victim of European intrusion. Marion and some others were injured slightly by the missiles of the natives, and a black servant was wounded by a spear.

The remarks they made are of no great value: they entered the country, and saw everywhere the effects of fire, which they supposed was intended to drive wild animals from the coast. They could not discover a tree suitable for a mast, and were unsuccessful in obtaining water. A small map, which sketched the form of the coast with considerable exactness, accompanied the account of this voyage, and tended to awaken the French to the importance of these seas.

The next visit was accidental, but most important: Captain Cook, in 1772, left Great Britain to explore the icy region near the Pole. There the vessels separated in a fog: they were unable to rejoin, and while Cook proceeded to New Zealand in the _Resolution_, Captain Tobias Furneaux, his second in command, touched at Van Diemen's Land in the _Adventure_. He made the south-west cape on the 9th of March, 1773, exactly one year after Marion left the island. After pa.s.sing the Mewstone, a boat's crew sent on sh.o.r.e reported favorably of the country, and that they had seen beautiful cascades pouring from rocks two hundred feet high. Finding no anchorage, Furneaux pa.s.sed the black rocks (the Boreels of Tasman), which he called the Friars, and discovered Adventure Bay, which is separated from Storm Bay by Cape Frederick Henry. There they found anchorage in seven fathoms, within half a mile of either sh.o.r.e, and obtained wood and water in abundance. The numerous islets and tortuous navigation of the coasts led Furneaux into several errors. To discuss them would tire the patience of nine readers in ten, and afford no pleasure to the tenth.

The _Adventure_ sailed along the eastern coast to the lat.i.tude of 40 50', where Furneaux observed the land turned towards the westward. He, however, narrowly missed the discovery of the straits, and turned off for New Zealand, convinced "that there was no strait between New Holland and Van Diemen's Land, but a very deep bay." The impression he adopted, he conveyed to Captain Cook, who had intended to visit Van Diemen's Land for the solution of this geographical problem, which now he considered determined.[5]

On his third and final voyage to the Pacific, Captain Cook touched at Van Diemen's Land in the _Resolution_, then accompanied by Captain Clerke. He sighted the island bearing north-west half-west, distant three leagues from Mewstone. A neighbouring rock, unnoticed by Furneaux, he called the Eddystone, from its resemblance to an English lighthouse of that name. Detained by calms, he did not reach Adventure Bay until the 26th, where at 4 P.M. he dropped anchor in twelve fathoms, within a mile of the sh.o.r.e. The officers were delighted with the country, and particularly with its gigantic forests. Mr. Anderson, the surgeon, spent his leisure wandering on the beach of Adventure Bay; angling in a lake, or ascending the neighbouring hills.[6] Captain Cook left swine on the sh.o.r.e, which were driven into the bush when the natives were not present; in the hope they might escape them, and thus add to the resources of the country. He departed on the 30th for New Zealand. The account left by Cook is chiefly interesting for its description of the natives, and will be noticed in the history of that unfortunate people.

On the 3rd July, 1789, the brig _Mercury_, John Henry c.o.x, master, entered a deep bay on the south side of Van Diemen's Land, and was about ten miles from the Mewstone: attempting Adventure Bay, he was carried to the eastward, and afterwards accidentally discovered Oyster Bay.

Captain Wm. Bligh, subsequently governor of New South Wales, touched at Van Diemen's Land in 1788, when on his voyage to Tahiti, whence he was instructed to convey the bread fruit tree to the West India Islands. His object was frustrated by the mutiny of his crew; and after a pa.s.sage in an open boat, attended with extraordinary perils, he reached Great Britain. The _Providence_ and _a.s.sistant_ were placed under his command: he was sent on the same errand, in which he was successful, and re-appeared in Adventure Bay in 1792. During his stay he planted several fruit trees, acorns, and vegetables.

An inscription found by the French crew on a tree, signified that near by, "Captain William Bligh planted seven fruit trees: Messrs. T. and W., botanists." They consisted of one fig, two pomegranates, and four quinces. An apple tree was found by Labillardiere on the coast. They doubtless all perished. The Frenchman was greatly scandalised by the despotism which condemned men of science to initials, and gave a sea captain a monopoly of fame.

This celebrated naturalist was attached to the expedition of Rear-Admiral Brune D'Entrecasteaux, sent out by the government of France to ascertain the fate of La Perouse, whose amiable reputation conciliated the good-will of all parties. Although concluded that the vessel he commanded must be lost, it was fondly hoped that he still survived. The national a.s.sembly paused in the midst of its conflict with the king, to request that vessels might be dispatched, and rewards offered, for his relief. In his decree, Louis XVI. describes the expedition as intended, beyond its primary design, to perfect the description of the globe. On the day the first colonists of New South Wales entered Port Jackson, the expedition of La Perouse was seen by the astonished English approaching the coast. After an interchange of those civilities which dignify the intercourse of polished nations, he left New Holland.

In a letter, dated September, 1787, Perouse stated his intention "to employ six months in visiting the Friendly Islands to procure refreshments; the south-west coast of Mendana, the land of the Arsacides, with that of Louisiade, as far as New Guinea."[7]

Many years after, relics were recovered, which demonstrated the vicinity of his misfortunes. A lascar informed Captain Peter Dillon, of the East India Company's service, that two Frenchmen survived at Manicola; he therefore visited the island, where he found several relics of the lost admiral, although the Frenchmen were dead; among the rest his sword guard, marked with his cypher.[8] Dillon was honored by the French government with the t.i.tle of Chevalier, and received a pension.

In 1792, D'Entrecasteaux in the _Recherche_, and Captain Huon Kermandee in the _Esperance_, reached Van Diemen's Land. On the 20th April, when looking for Adventure Bay, they discovered the channel which bears the name of D'Entrecasteaux. They remained a month, when they departed on their search, and returned on the 20th January, 1793, to complete their observations. They found that the channel extended to the Storm Bay of Tasman: they entered and named the Huon, and the Rivere du Nord, now the Derwent, and examined the different harbours. Their charts are said to exhibit the finest specimen of marine surveying ever made in a new country.[9] Of D'Entrecasteaux's Channel, then deemed the most important discovery since the time of Tasman, Rossel, who recorded the events of the voyage, writes with rapture:--"A harbour, twenty-four miles in length, and equally safe in every part. Such a retreat, in a gulph which bears the menacing name of Storm Bay, is a luxury that, to be able to express, must be felt."

Captain John Hayes, of the Bombay marine, with the private ships _Duke_ and _d.u.c.h.ess_, examined Storm Bay and D'Entrecasteaux's Channel, in 1794. He pa.s.sed up the Rivere du Nord much farther than the French, which he called the Derwent; and in his pa.s.sage affixed names to various places, which have effaced those given by the original French discoverers--whose survey, however, to the extent of their navigation, was more correct than his own.

The form of Van Diemen's Land had long been a nautical problem. Captain Hunter, observing the swell of the ocean, deemed the existence of a strait highly probable. Mr. George Ba.s.s, surgeon of the royal navy, a gentleman to whom his generous friend Flinders refers with great admiration, resolved to test the conjecture. He had already given proof of intrepidity: in company with Flinders and a boy, he embarked in a boat, eight feet long, called _Tom Thumb_. After escaping great dangers, they returned to Port Jackson with valuable information respecting the coast.

In 1798, Ba.s.s obtained from Governor Hunter a six-oared whale boat, six men, and six weeks provisions: with this outfit he proceeded along the eastern coast of New Holland, occasionally landing and obtaining supplies, which enabled him to prolong his absence to eleven weeks. He continued his course until the agitation of the water convinced him that the open sea was not far distant: he discovered Western Port, and a country of great attraction. He explored six hundred miles of coast, one-half of which was. .h.i.therto unknown; an enterprise beyond example in nautical adventure, and ent.i.tling him to that renown which belongs to his name.

To test this discovery, the governor authorised Lieutenant Flinders and Mr. Ba.s.s to sail through the strait in the _Norfolk_, a colonial sloop, of 25 tons. Twelve weeks only were allowed for the voyage, which compelled the navigators to content themselves with a cursory survey.

In October, 1798, they left Port Jackson: after spending some time among the islands which crowd the straits, they sighted Cape Portland, a name given it in honor of the Duke of Portland, then secretary for the colonies; thence they pa.s.sed Port Waterhouse, so called after the captain of the _Reliance_. The first important discovery was Port Dalrymple, called after the hydrographer of the admiralty, Alexander Dalrymple.[10] Green Isle, Western Arm, Middle Island, Whirlpool Reach, Swan Point, and Crescent Sh.o.r.e, preserve memorials of the visit in their designations.

They reported Port Dalrymple an excellent place for refreshments: black swans, whose quills covered the beach in countless thousands; kangaroos, of the forest kind; flocks of ducks and teal, and mussels and oysters, were found in abundance.

Proceeding along the coast, they came to a headland, which they called Circular Head, from its resemblance to a Christmas cake. They now approached the solution of the question which had dictated their voyage.

They remarked a long swell from the south-west breaking on the western sh.o.r.e: they hailed it with joy and mutual gratulation, and pa.s.sed in safety the cl.u.s.tering islets in their course: the extreme north-west they called Cape Grim. Proceeding round the western coast, they observed the mountains noticed by Tasman when he visited the island, which in memory of his vessels they called Mount Heemskirk and Mount Zeehaan.

They named Point Hibbs after the master of the _Norfolk_. The discoveries of Flinders here may be said to terminate, until he proceeded up the Derwent.

The utility of the strait was highly rated. It secured perpetual renown to Ba.s.s, whose name it bears: this was given by Governor Hunter at the recommendation of Flinders, whose candour is always conspicuous in awarding the palm of discovery to those to whom it is due! Not only does the strait curtail a voyage from the Cape by four degrees, but vessels avoid the winds which obstruct navigation round the South Cape and Cape Pillar of Van Diemen's Land, which prolong the pa.s.sage several days; a point of great importance in the conveyance of pa.s.sengers.

The _Norfolk_ steered into the Derwent by the chart of Hayes. Both Flinders and Ba.s.s observe, with indignation, how creeks are magnified into rivers, coves into bays, and a few acres into plains: as Risdon River, Prince of Wales's Bay, and King George's Plains. They corrected his definitions, but left him the honors of discovery. Flinders proceeded to Herdsman's Cove, which he so distinguished for its extensive pasture and plentiful waters.

Ba.s.s depicts the Derwent as a dull and lifeless stream, respectable only because the Tasmanian rivers are insignificant![11] To a bay they entered on the western side of Tasman's Peninsula, they gave the name of their vessel, which was built at Norfolk Island, of the pine peculiar to that place.

Flinders continued, after the departure of Ba.s.s, to prosecute researches on the coast of New Holland, until the _Reliance_ returned home. In that vessel his charts were conveyed, and were published. On a plan being offered by Sir Joseph Banks for completing the survey, the _Investigator_ was placed under the command of Flinders, who was promoted to the rank of commander, furnished with a chosen crew, and attended by Westall, a painter, and Brown, a naturalist whose collection added largely to his department of science. Flinders received a pa.s.sport from the French government, expressed with the usual amplitude. It inhibited all vessels of war from molesting the _Investigator_, and gave right of entry to all ports subject to France, for refitting or refreshment, on condition that nothing were done hostile to that power.

This protection was demanded by Lord Hawksbury, of M. Otto, the celebrated representative of the Republic in England. Flinders had proposed to visit Van Diemen's Land, but had been partly antic.i.p.ated by the _Lady Nelson_, sent from England to be employed as tender to the _Investigator_, and fitted with a keel suited to shallow waters. Brown, the naturalist, remained some time after the expedition was interrupted.

He wandered on the banks of the Derwent and Tamar, collecting shrubs and flowers during a stay of several months; and although some specimens of plants were lost in the _Porpoise_, not one out of 3,900 species was wanting.[12]

In June, 1803, Flinders pa.s.sed the north coast of Van Diemen's Land: eighteen men were lying in their hammocks almost hopeless of recovery, some of whom died before the vessel entered Port Jackson, and several afterwards. A survey was instantly held, and the _Investigator_ was condemned: the hull was found rotten, both plank and timbers, and it was declared that reparation was impossible. On inspecting her condition, Flinders expressed great astonishment, and remarked that a hard gale must have sent her to the bottom.[13]